On Guarding Your Heart

Today we have a new author to introduce to you. Sarah Louise Barnard writes at her self-named website and has some prior history writing at another site as well as well as serving in ministry.This article checks the boxes for its examination of an oft-used Biblical phrase. Click the title below to read it where it first appeared, and then take some time to look around the rest of the site.

What Does it Really Mean to ‘Guard Your Heart?’

“Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” -Proverbs 4:23

We’ve probably all heard this verse/phrase a thousand times. I remember my mother used to quote this verse to me all the time. The first time I remember hearing it, I was young, maybe about 10 years old, and I knew it must be important since she said it quite seriously… but I honestly had no idea what she meant.

How many of you have heard that phrase before, knew it was important, yet didn’t know what it meant? Maybe you still don’t understand what it really means… and that’s okay. But, if that’s you, then this post will hopefully give you some insight into this mysterious phrase that is so frequently repeated in Christian circles.

“Guard your heart with all diligence…”

Guards are people who protect something or someone. They’re set to their position and must stop any unauthorized entry. According to Dictionary.com “guard” means, “to keep something safe from harm or danger; protect; watch over.”

The act of guarding/protecting your heart is what you must do to ensure that no person or thing enters unauthorized. Guarding is what you do to make sure no harm comes to your heart.

Logically, only valuable things need protection. If you don’t believe you have inherent worth and value, you won’t protect yourself. You must come to the revelation of understanding that your heart is worthy to be protected.

Because you are the temple of the Holy Spirit – You should take care of yourself. If God thought you worth it enough to send His only Son to bring you into relationship with Himself, and to send His very Spirit to dwell inside of you, how much more should you consider yourself worth it?

You are worthy.

Worthy to be loved. Worthy to be valued. Worthy to care for yourself. Worthy to be guarded.

“for from it flow the springs of life.”

I also think it’s important for us to understand what the term “springs of life,” means. Looking at other translations of this verse gives us a little insight.

NIV: Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

ESV: Proverbs 4:23: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

KJV: Proverbs 4:23: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

NASB: Proverbs 4:23: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”

NLT: Proverbs 4:23: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

CSB: Proverbs 4:23: “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”

We can see from these translations that “springs of life” is a phrase that implies that our hearts impact our whole lives. In the Gospels of both Matthew and Luke, Jesus makes a comment about this, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34/Luke 6:45)

If what fills our hearts, fills our mouths and ultimately our lives, it sure seems like it’s pretty important that we monitor closely what gets into our hearts.

You ready for some nerdy stuff?

If you look at the word ‘springs’ in Hebrew, you’ll find that it is the word ‘towtsa’ah’ (H8444 in Strong’s), which means, “boundary, source, border, going forth, outgoings.” So the ‘springs of life’ are where things begin and go forth from. Life begins in the heart, “as a man thinks in his own heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7 NLV)

The word, ‘springs’ also makes me think of water, and the source of water is normally pure, fresh, and unpolluted.

The word ‘life’ in Hebrew is ‘chay’ (H2416 in Strong’s), this word means: “alive, raw, fresh, strong.” So ‘springs of life’ are the source of raw fresh strength.

What are you doing with the source of your life? Are you guarding your heart, or letting anything and anyone in? You are worthy to be guarded. The Lord cares about you and wants to help you protect yourself.

Maybe you’re still not sure what it looks like to actually, ‘guard your heart,’ and that’s okay. Following are a few suggestions on how to get started in guarding the source of your life.

The very first step in guarding our hearts is staying close to Jesus. There are so many voices in the world, so you need to be careful that you’re listening to God’s voice first.

Unless you’re being informed by the Word of God, it’s easy to become distracted and deceived. You must guard your heart against influences that tell you lies about who you are, who God is, and what He created you to be and accomplish.

Another practical way you can guard your heart is to be careful of what type of media you are consuming. In our culture, we’re constantly surrounded by media – social media, movies, tv shows, and music, to name a few. Every form of media carries a message.

Do you think about the messages you’re consuming, or is it “just entertainment,” or “just the beat?” Do you think through whether or not the message brings glory to God or to man? Guarding your heart means you don’t give every idea equal access to your mind and heart. Being careful of the ideas you let enter is a way to guard your heart.

Guarding your springs of life is a daily task. You can’t become careless. Each day you have the opportunity to choose what kind of thoughts, feelings, words, and media enter your mind.

Are you choosing well, or being careless?

Maybe you’re not sure if you’re doing a good job of guarding your heart or not? Here’s a good way to find out – for a whole day choose to be aware of your thoughts, your music, your tv shows, your friend’s words, your own words to yourself, and what you watch on all social media. As you’re aware of these things ask yourself and the Lord the following questions:

‘Is this thing true?’

‘Does it glorify self or God?’

‘Is it encouraging?’

‘Is it helping me walk with Jesus or distracting me from Him?’

Sometimes things we let in aren’t inherently bad, but when they become a distraction from knowing & obeying God, they become sin to us as we practice them. God doesn’t want us to put anything or anyone ahead of our relationship with Him.

As you spend more honest time with Jesus, ask Him to show you areas of your life that are a distraction or things that may be polluting your heart.

“Christian brothers, keep your minds thinking about whatever is true, whatever is respected, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever can be loved, and whatever is well thought of. If there is anything good and worth giving thanks for, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

Serving Others; Serving Christ

The titles given to posts here are meant to provide a framework from which you’re invited to view the entire article. They’re sometimes similar to what the author chose for their own website, and sometimes different in some way.

We don’t change the preferred translation of post authors. Today’s uses the KJV, but you’re invited to pursue the texts in the version you are best able to understand.

Today we’re introducing a new author to you, who goes by Humbled Overcomer. The idea of humility or humbled is important to today’s reading. The blog is titled It Starts Small. You’ll find today’s article there or by clicking the link in the title below.

The Heart of a Servant

The word servant is used hundreds of times in both the Old and New Testaments. What does it mean to be a servant of Christ? or a servant to the Lord?

Many people do not like the word servant. It means to have a life that inferior. In today’s world, the ultimate goal is to be king of the universe. To be the top dog in all of life. A servant is someone who is the complete opposite. The Bible, however, gives us a different picture of what being a servant is.

²¹ Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. John 20:21

This is one of my most favorite things Jesus spoke. Jesus says, my Heavenly Father sent me to start a good work, and I am asking you to come, be my partner, and join with me to continue my work. We have been appointed and called by Christ to serve his will and his ways, in order to live a better life. That better life is full of God’s goodness and blessing. Our contentment is not related to what we have, but who we have and who we serve.

In Matthew and Mark, we find the story of the disciples arguing with each other. They were trying to boast who was the best and who was going to come first. They did not understand Jesus’ teaching about his coming agony. When Jesus hears them arguing, he says,

⁴³ But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: ⁴⁴ And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Mark 10:43-45

²⁸ Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28

Jesus did not come unto this earth as a heavenly being. He came in flesh and blood. He did not come surrounded by angels ministering to his every need. No, our Savior was flesh and blood. He did not come so that others would fall all over themselves to serve his every need. He came to serve the people.

Jesus teaches us by His example, how to have a pure heart of servitude. Throughout the New Testament we learn about a servant’s heart, how to be faithful servants, and the meaning of being a servant. Jesus taught us what we needed in order to have a heart of a servant.

Compassion

Compassion is not completely defined in God’s Word, rather there are example after example of compassion. We define the word as to empathize with someone who is suffering and to feel compelled to reduce the suffering. The spiritual definition is the act of being moved to do something. Jesus was moved with compassion for the people he encountered. Compassion is not feeling sorry for people. Compassion is being moved by the Holy Spirit to not give people what they want, but to allow Christ to work through you to give them what they need.

Unselfishness

To be a faithful servant, there can be no pride in your heart. From the heart we act and speak. A prideful heart seeks only selfish ambition, motive, and desires. Jesus served with humility. This was not a posture of weakness, but a posture of meekness. He put the needs of others above his own need. Humility in our world is misunderstood. Humility is an attitude, not a behavior. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, rather it is thinking less about yourself. Instead of thinking what can Christ do for you, it is submitting to what can Christ do through me. I love the song by Zach Williams that says Lord, let em be a little less like me and more like you.

Your will, not my will.

This aligns with unselfishness. The heart of a servant does what it master asks. He does not seek to do his own desires. His heart is motivated by pleasing his master and being obedient to his master. When we walk the road of discipleship, our heart is motivated by the will of our Heavenly Father. His purpose and desire for our life becomes our purpose and desire. As Christ transform us into a new creature, our thoughts, words and actions change to match in step with his. Our desires turn from our inward, to the outward. What were once weaknesses, are now our strengths.

Love.

No one can serve without a heart filled with God’s love. What you love most is what you serve. Love is what we give and do, it is not what we feel. The world wants us to think love is a gushy feel good emotion. Joy is a byproduct of love, but love is an action. Love is what motivates us. As God fills our hearts with His love, we are moved with compassion to fulfill his purpose in our lives. Jesus, with the full power of heaven in him, loved all of us so much he paid our debt of sin we owed. His love built a bridge of redemption between us and our Heavenly Father. He calls us into partnership with him, that through him we serve to carry on his work. No work of Christ can be done without love.

Faithfulness

Jesus never quit. Jesus never gave up. Jesus never threw his hands up and walked away. We tend to think Jesus walked this earth in sheer perfection. We get blinded to the idea that Jesus and His disciples encountered many serious situations. They were on a ship in the middle of a storm that threatened to take them down. They encountered demon possessed people. The Pharisees sought to kill them. They went days without food. They slept outside. Jesus encountered every single situation we encounter in our lives. He encountered death. He encountered life. He encountered the sick and suffering. He encountered temptation of the devil. Jesus did not walk around and everything suddenly become perfect and uneventful.

The difference between Jesus and us, he never faltered in his faith. He remained faithful, and remains faithful to his Heavenly Father. He never stopped looking up. He never stopped getting by himself to seek and pray to his father. He never grew discouraged or bitter at the situations of hardship they encounter. He trusted His heavenly Father in ALL things. He trusted His Heavenly Father and that trust never grew thin.

A servant’s heart is fully reliant on our Heavenly Father. We give Him all we have knowing he will never fail us! He will always be with us, provide for us, and protect us!

Listening and Obeying

Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has taught me the importance of solitude. To not just put God first out of ritual, but to really put Him first in all things I do. Listening is so important! We need ears that hear. Ears that are in tune to listening more than speaking. A servant is someone who train and tune their ears to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what makes God’s Word jump off the page. It is who brings us the will of God in our lives. You would laugh at me for something of the things I have asked my Heavenly Father, but he said in ALL things, come to me. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit so that we can obey. Obedience is the reaction to the Word of God. It can be in scripture or the speaking of the Holy Spirit. If we want to be obedient we need to learn to listen.

Worship and Thanksgiving

Jesus had a heart of worship and thanksgiving. In all he did he gave glory, honor, and praise to His Heavenly Father. He never took credit for the works he did. He humbly gave credit where credit was due. It was not by His hand miracles were done, but by the power of the Lord God Almighty. The Pharisees and people were shocked by this man named Jesus who did not boast of his own power to perform miracles. The pharisees were the exact opposite. They demanded credit be given to them. They sought to have a following of the people. Jesus was the complete opposite. He was not here to amass a following, for fame, or to be a celebrity. He came to bring his Heavenly Father glory and honor in all he did. He worshiped and praised his father. He had a heart of worship and thanksgiving. We need a heart that in all things, all circumstances, we praise and worship God with a heart of thanksgiving.

Paul said, life is Christ.

2 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, ² Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. ³ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. ⁴ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. ⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: ⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:1-8

Is there any sort of life that can outdo a life of servitude to Christ? What can honestly be better than a life of purpose where all your needs are met, you are protected, you are never alone? What has ever brought you pure joy and peace outside the joy and peace of God?

What stops you from being a servant of Christ? A partner to Christ in continuing His good works?

⁶ Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:6

Truth in Love

But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace. – Zechariah 8:16 NLT

Since you put away lying, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. – Ephesians 4:25 CSB

Elsie Montgomery is in the top five most-quoted devotional writers here at C201. I have great respect for what she faithfully produces at Practical Faith, since 2006. Clicking the title which immediately follows will take you to her site and a treasure trove of devotional articles.

Love that speaks

Some say truth hurts. Some say there is no truth, only opinions. Some say love is a feeling and if the feeling is not there, love is gone. The Bible says, “So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” (Ephesians 4:14–15)

Jesus also says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free . . . . So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” meaning free from bondage to sin and its result of spiritual death. (John 8:31–36) Obviously human interpretations fall short of God’s definitions of both truth and love.

Jesus describes truth as the key to freedom from the tyranny of always needing to have my own way. He describes love as giving up selfish-desires to serve Him and others. That means that the truth only hurts those who insist on running their own life apart from God and truth is opinion only to those who reject God as having all wisdom and authority. This also means that love is a mere whim and only expressed when ‘I feel like it’ which, for a self-centered person, is more miss than hit.

This puts speaking the truth in love into a very narrow definition. Truth is the Word of God, what He says is true. Love is saying it without concern for myself, thinking only for the spiritual well-being of others. Love isn’t concerned about opinions, rejections, or being popular, only about the eternal destiny of those who do not know Jesus, and about the joy and freedom they can have if truth and love rule their lives.

So why is speaking the truth in love such a challenge? I know that my spiritual enemy does not want it to happen. He will do whatever he can to bring doubt, fear, confusion, and all sorts of sin my way so I’m mixed up, cowardly, uncertain, and more concerned about me than about others. He works on my conscience with accusations, temptations, and distractions. He tells me if I am bold with the truth, others will reject me or think I am ‘touched in the head’ or worse. He tells me if I love like Jesus loves, people will use me, walk all over me, rip me off and laugh at me behind my back.

Speaking the truth in love is serious business. Jesus did it — and died because of it. The early disciples, all but one, were martyrs because they did it. Today, hundreds of Christians will die for their faith, and if not death, be tortured or put in prison, or at best, ridiculed for speaking the truth in love. In North America, we have laws that protect severe persecution yet in subtle ways our freedom to speak truth is being limited and the love of God is interpreted to mean that He wants everyone to be comfortable.

PRAY: Jesus, in these confusing times, enable clarity of thought, words of truth, and a heart full of Your love for Your people. This is not only serious but difficult. In myself, I cannot do it but I can do all things through You, as Paul prayed, and “May my love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment” (Philippians 1:9). Thank You for the joy that comes with both truth and love in my life.

READ: Revelation 2:1–7 noting the strengths in this church and the one thing it lacked. What is God’s answer to what was missing?

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Watch for a bonus item from Elsie later this week!

Obedience Happens if our Love is Real

This is our third time highlighting the writing of Nathan Nass who writes at Upside-Down Savior. Nathan is a Lutheran Pastor in Oklahoma. Clicking the title which follows will take you to where this first appeared where you may also scroll down to watch it on video.

Love Obeys

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:15-24 NIV)

[edited: References to the day on which this was presented being Mother’s Day]

Over the past three months—since the beginning of Lent—we’ve been hearing about how Jesus suffered for us and how Jesus died for us and how Jesus rose from the dead for us. He gave up everything for us. To forgive our sins and give us eternal life and proclaim to every single one of us that we are loved. That we are forgiven. That we are saved. You too! There’s one person who’s done even more for you than your mom: Jesus.

So how can we show our love for Jesus? … Here’s what Jesus says: “If you love me, keep my commands.” Sound familiar? Just like with mom, if you love Jesus, do what he says. Love obeys. Jesus says that three times in our lesson: “If you love me, keep my commands.” “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.” “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” Clearly, Jesus thinks this is a really big deal. What can we do to show our love for Jesus? Do what he says! Love obeys.

We really need to hear this. Our society has taken the word “love” and twisted it beyond recognition—especially when it comes to love for God. According to what we hear today, love means that I get to do whatever I want. Isn’t that the case? “I can love whomever I want and love whatever I want and God better love it. Love means I can do whatever I want!” How would that work with your mother? “Mom, I love you so much that today I’m going to do whatever I want to do and you’d better like it.” Isn’t that what we say to God? “God, I love you, so I’m going to live however I want and you better like it. Okay?” What on earth? What planet are we from?

This is such a temptation for us as Christians. To say we love Jesus and to be content with our sin at the same time. “I can believe in Jesus and love my money. Who doesn’t?” “I can believe in Jesus and be a jerk to some people. They deserve it!” “I can believe in Jesus and express my sexuality the way I want to. It’s natural.” “Since I love Jesus, it’s okay that I sin, because Jesus forgives me. It’s all good, right?” “No, it isn’t,” Jesus says. “That’s not love!” “If you love me, keep my commands.” The good works you do don’t make you a Christian. We get to heaven by faith in Jesus. But the good works you do are the proof that you’re a Christian. Love is an action.

“But Pastor,” people say, “it’s complicated. I know what Jesus says. I just can’t do that right now. It would be too hard. You don’t understand. It’s complicated!” There are lots of things in life that are complicated. Love for Jesus is not one of those things. He makes it simple. If we love Jesus, we will obey what he commands. If Jesus is first, we will put him first. Jesus doesn’t ask us for excuses for why we’ve decided to put something else above him in our lives. He makes a very simple request as our loving Savior, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

So what are Jesus’ commands? The Bible has lots of commands. Maybe that’s why God gives us a summary: The Ten Commandments. Remember those? God wants you to remember the Ten Commandments. Why? “If you love me, keep my commands.” The first three commandments are about our relationship with God. That comes first. Remember them? “You shall have no other gods.” We love God more than everything else. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” Don’t let “oh my God” slip out of your mouth. “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” Make time for God and his word. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

The other seven commandments are about our relationships with other people. “Honor your father and mother.” Not just on Mother’s Day! “You shall not murder.” Love people. Protect life. “You shall not commit adultery.” Sex is God’s gift for a married husband and wife. Protect marriage. “You shall not steal.” “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Tell the truth, even when it hurts. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” “You shall not covet your neighbor’s spouse, workers, animals, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20). Be content with what God has given you. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

What if we don’t? What if we refuse? What if we choose one or two of those commandments and say, “This one isn’t a big deal to me. I don’t like it. I’m not going to follow it.” Well, it’s not complicated. Jesus tells us. “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” If I refuse to follow God’s commands, what does that mean? I don’t love Jesus. If I don’t love Jesus, where will I end up? Apart from Jesus forever in hell. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

I don’t know about you, but when I hear all of this, there’s a word that comes to mind: “Help!” “Jesus, if I am going to keep your commands—any of your commands—help!” Jesus knows. Jesus knows how sinful we are. Jesus knows that on our own we are incapable of keeping his commands. So notice what Jesus immediately promises: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.” There’s help—the biggest help imaginable: Jesus has put the Holy Spirit in you. That’s not a small thing! You have God inside you. Everywhere you go, in every decision you make, God is there with you.

We maybe don’t think enough about the Holy Spirit. I’ve had two people just in the past two weeks talk with me about the joy of understanding the Holy Spirit’s work. The Holy Spirit empowers our spiritual lives from beginning to end. Some Christians today say, “God gets things started, and then it’s up to you to keep it going.” Other Christians today say, “You need to take the first step, you need to invite God in, and then God will take over from there.” Which is right? Neither! It’s all God from beginning to end. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings us to faith. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). And the Holy Spirit is also the One who keeps us in the faith. And the Holy Spirit is the One who empowers us to follow God’s commands. Our life with God is all God and his grace from beginning to end.

The Bible tells us what the Holy Spirit uses to do his work in us: The Gospel in God’s Word and the Sacraments. We call those the “Means of Grace”—the ways that God gives us his grace. Through the sacrament of Baptism, you were born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:6). The Holy Spirit forgave all your sins and gave you new life. But he doesn’t stop there. Through the sacrament of Holy Communion, you receive again and again the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And every time you hear God’s Word, the Holy Spirit is working his strength and his power in your heart. None of our life of faith is on our own. None of it relies on our own strength or power. The Father “will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.” It is a wonderful blessing to have the gift of the Holy Spirit!

But it’s not just the Holy Spirit. Did you hear what else Jesus promises? “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” It’s not just the Spirit who is inside you. Who else has made their home with you? The Father and the Son. The whole Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—make their home in you. What an amazing thought! You are the house of God. Sometimes people think that God lives at church. That’s not true! Where does God live? In you. You are not alone. Maybe your mother is gone. Maybe your father is gone. But you are not alone. You are not an orphan. God lives in you. God empowers you.

Do you see how this works? “It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). If we do anything good, who does it? God! Jesus doesn’t say, “If you love me, I will love you.” “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Jesus doesn’t say, “If you forgive, I will forgive you.” No. We forgive, “just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Jesus doesn’t say, “If you live the right way, you will live in heaven.” He says, “Because I live, you also will live.” Jesus loves you. Jesus forgives you. Jesus lives for you. So we forgive because he forgave. We live because he lived for us. We love because he loved us.

How? How do we show love for Jesus? “If you love me, keep my commands.” Whichever commands of Jesus you’ve been rejecting, confess them. Don’t get comfortable in your sins. Take those sins to Jesus’ cross. See how he died to forgive you. Then look to the Holy Spirit in the Word and the Sacraments to give you strength to live for Jesus. The Spirit is that voice that calms your anger before you explode. The Spirit is the voice that says “No” to that sin even when the rest of you says yes. The Spirit is the hand that picks up the Bible. The Spirit is in you.

In our FaithBuilders class this past week, someone asked an excellent question: “This faith thing sounds really simple, and yet it seems impossible. Which is it?” Do you know the answer? It’s “yes!” It’s both! There is nothing complicated about being a Christian. Believe in Jesus and show your love for him by keeping his commands. It’s simple! Yet, who can do that? No one. Except by the Holy Spirit. May Jesus give us his Spirit through the Word and the Sacraments so that we show our love for him in our lives. How? “If you love me, keep my commands.” Love obeys.

Keeping Your Words Few

This may seem a strange title for a blog that isn’t exactly known for its brevity, but there is so much on scripture about concision in speech that you could almost say the scriptures offer a doctrine of reticence which is part of a larger theology of Christian character. Simply put, a Christ-follower is one who knows when to speak and when to be silent, because in too much talking…

You could accidentally betray a confidence:

Proverbs 20:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ A gossip betrays a confidence;
so avoid anyone who talks too much

Your prayers could become a religious formula:

Matthew 6:7 (NIV)

⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Your words could simply get lost in the sea of communications:

Ecclesiastes 12:12a (MSG)

^12-13 But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books…

You could simply look foolish:

Proverbs 17:28 (NIV)

²⁸ Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
and discerning if they hold their tongues.

You could even say something to God you might regret:

Job 40:4-5 (NLT)

⁴ “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers?
I will cover my mouth with my hand.
⁵ I have said too much already.
I have nothing more to say.”

Or you might simply forget who God is, and become too casual with Him:

Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NIV)

² Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few…

Or publicly uncover an inconsistency in your life:

James 3:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

I was once asked to explain the term concision to someone, and I said this, “Imagine that you are trying to sell something through an advertisement in a newspaper or online where you are being charged $2.00 per word. You map out what you want to say, but then you trim it back to see how efficiently you can say the same thing. Your edited version actually will have greater impact.”

It is true in speech, in sermons, in blogging, in printed books, etc.  So many voices are competing for your attention, and in a bullet point word, sometimes less is more. Skye Jethani once tweeted:

Many books should be articles. Many articles should be blog posts. Many blog posts should be tweets. And many tweets should not be.

We all feel we contribute significance by our words, therefore we want to talk, we want to be heard, we want to influence, we want to weigh in on the topic of the day. But in the end, we are better to practice an economy of words; to let our words be few. It’s not just good sense, it’s scriptural.

(Appropriately, today’s devotional stays true to the theme of brevity, clocking in at exactly 500 words.)

The Five C’s of Great Leadership

Today we’re introducing a new website to you, Dancing on Water, which is based in Bulgaria. It is a project of Nick Jane (who we corresponded with) and Grace, and features the writing of Bill Joukhadar who is the author of today’s Christian leadership article.  Their purpose is:

” We hope and pray that the ‘life-tested’ articles, posts and resources will inspire visitors/subscribers to live 100% of their lives publicly and unashamedly by faith, in honour of God. We also hope that our content will interest possible newcomers to take a closer look at Christ and the Christian faith.”

Click the title below to read this where it first appeared.

Characteristics of a Great Leader

Every believer is divinely endowed with a significant degree of leadership potential. How can a believer tap into their rich potential? How can the fullness of this potential be realised? First, let us define “leadership”.

A “general” definition of leadership is “someone who has influence over others” (either good or bad). A simple “biblical” definition” is “someone who leads through service, and serves through leading.” Jesus says,

 “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mk.10:43-45 NIV).

Note: The word “whoever” implies that great leadership is a personal choice!

What does it take to make a great leader?

It takes Christ-like Character + Conduct + Commitment + Competence…

Character +
The pursuit of holiness through living with a “zero-sin” tolerance produces Christ-like character.  Paul said, “God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives” (1 Thess. 4:7). In addition, great leaders have a “heart” for God and people. Jesus says, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind… and you must love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mat. 22:37-39). Friends, the Great Commandment makes great leaders!

Paul instructed Timothy, his successor…

A church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker, or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap” (1 Tim. 3:2-7).

Note: Of the fifteen qualities of a pastor listed by Paul, only one deals with something he does (able to teach). All the other attributes deal with his character. Character is who you are, not what you can do!

Conduct +
Paul said to the church at Philippi, “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ” (Phil. 1:27). He also said to Timothy, “… set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).

Commitment +
Jesus said to those who wanted to follow Him, “Deny self, take-up your cross, and follow Me” (Lk. 9:23). Now, this is what I call an acceptable commitment: 24/7 “all of me!” Great leaders are more than “weekend warriors.”

Note: Believers who wish to be great, follow Christ to “serve”, not “observe”!

Competence =
Jesus says we are to remain faithful to His teaching (Jn. 8:31). What does remain faithful to His teaching mean? Just like the Nike slogan, it means we are to JUST DO IT! “Being” filled with the Holy Spirit leaves us without excuses as to why we cannot “just do it.” Jesus says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere” (Acts 1:8).

Note: The Holy Spirit = power = ability = control = divine competence!

Finally, Christ-like Character + Conduct + Commitment + Competence = Countability!

Countability
Question: Is your practice of life and service to the Lord transforming you into one of God’s great leaders… someone He can really “count-on”?

Without exception, God’s great leaders are made up of ordinary “weak” people who are constantly “being filled” with the Holy Spirit, who willingly go-on with their lives, learning and growing through their service to God.

Note: Concerning human weakness, God said to Paul, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Yes, your human weakness DOES NOT hinder God from making you a great leader!

Friends, there is no such thing as natural “born leaders”–they are supernaturally God-made! The Lord says, “Take my yoke upon you. Let Me teach you” (Mat. 11:29). Why settle for mediocrity when excellence is but a prayer and commitment away. Are you one of God’s developing great leaders? Remember: Jesus says, “whoever…”

Judgmental Attitudes: Jesus vs. Ours

The past few months I’ve been dogged by a couple of people who have desired to judge my every take on every issue; every book I enjoy; every author I don’t enjoy; everything I say; everything I don’t say; … and on it goes.

The social media explosion has left us with much more transparent lives than we had previously. If you want to post things that are meaningful, or thought-engaging, you can expect critics. If you don’t want any of that, you can post pictures of cats. Today’s post is about judgmental attitudes. Jesus never evidenced what we would call a critical spirit, but some day he’s returning as judge.

The past few days I’ve been reviewing blog posts from previous years here, specifically reviewing 2013, 2015, and 2019. It’s a look back at what was important to me on those days. Like this one from a decade ago…

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen

~Apostles Creed (see also a musical adaptation)

Years ago we went to an event that featured Steve Geyer, who was billed as a comedian, but really shared his heart for over two hours in a much more pastoral sense.

In one section he spoke about the surprising and unexpected things that take place in the earthly ministry of Jesus; things where the events and people and situations get turned on their heads, including the time Jesus is anointed with perfume by an uninvited guest to a party.

Three gospels carry this story. Mark (chapter 14) who is usually much more concise gives us more than Matthew

^Mark.14.1 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ² “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

³ While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶ “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.

Luke 7 is considered to be a different story that took place at a different time, but is a similar story that includes a parable that Jesus teaches:

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

As Steve Geyer referred briefly to this story he said,

“The One who will judge the earth is non-judgmental.”

That phrase really hit me. Here we see another example of the contrast between “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild;” (itself not a fully accurate rendering of the earthly ministry of Jesus) and the one who sits at God’s right hand from where “he will come to judge the living and the dead.” Mercy contrasted with justice. God’s love versus God’s judgment.

^{John 5:24} “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

^{Acts 10:39} “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, ⁴⁰ but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹ He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

^{Matthew 25:31} “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Jesus pours out love and compassion to so many in the gospel narratives, but just as a parent gently loves a child, so also does a parent not hesitate to bring rebuke, correction and discipline. (See this link for an interesting parallel between that and the work of the scriptures in our lives.) God’s justice must be satisfied, and yet, as I ponder Steve’s statement, I see even there a justice that is tempered by mercy and grace.

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Bonus content: Even though today’s story may not be exactly in all four gospels, I did a check to see what teachings/stories are found in all four gospels:

• Feeding the 5,000
• Identification of the betrayer at the Last Supper
• Jesus prays in Gethsemane
• Peter’s denials
• various elements of the death and resurrection

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Scriptures quoted today are NIV; all underlining in the creed and Bible verses added.

The Litmus Test for Believers

Before we begin today, I frequently re-visit blogs and websites we’ve used before only to discover the author(s) made the site private. Recently, my pastor was talking about the parable of the sower scattering seeds (often called The Parable of the Soils). He said that many of us think of planting in terms of growing tulips. The “bulbs” are carefully assigned a location, one at a time, slowly, methodically, deliberately, etc. But the other type of seeding uses what he called a “broadcast spreader.” The seeds go everywhere!

I believe that in the context of truly scattering seeds far and wide, we need to make as much material available to any and all who are seeking to know more. In that context, I’m thankful for the writers who continue to make their ideas available in a public blog format where it can be searched and indexed and quoted. 

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We return today to writer Jim Grant and his blog, Preach Between the Lines. Click the title which follows to read this where it first appeared.

Love Has Everything to do with It

February is known for Ground Hog day and Valentines Day. I am not sure which day gets the most fanfare, but I did see that Walmart is displaying Valentine’s Day. I didn’t notice anything being displayed for the Ground Hog. So, with that brief introduction the topic… will be on Valentines Day or more specifically LOVE.

The scriptures are filled with the Love theme. I would like to focus on the passage in John 13:34-35. It says,

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [NSAB]

Almost everyone knows John 3:16. It has been used prolifically by Christians as an evangelical point in conversations with the unchurched or as the bible says “lost.” Believers and pastors especially use the phrase “We love because He [God] has loved us.” Actually, 1 John 4:7-11 amplifies the principle of loving God and loving each other. It says

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Now I have been in churches long enough to know that everyone does not get along, and often there is conflict among the members, especially during business meetings. The litmus test for believers is the LOVE TEST. Do we love each other as Christ has loved us?

I know many unchurched people say the reason that they won’t go to church is because of the way believers live, both inside and outside the church. Obviously, the people we are trying to reach see/hear how we act towards one another and stay away. Since Jesus died and rose again for us, we should express our faith relationship in Him by loving as we have been loved. Now this brings up a good question – just how did Jesus love us?

There are several words in Greek that define love in diverse ways. I know you have all heard this, but it bears repeating.

· Eros, or sexual passion. …
· Philia, or deep friendship. …
· Ludus, or playful love. …
· Agape, or love for everyone. …
· Pragma, or longstanding love. …  

Our Love, the Love of God is Agape love, nothing new here. There is a dominant theme that is being preached in our pulpits, that theme is love and acceptance of everybody. I understand the motivation behind the theme, but what is missing is Agape love. Within our current culture there is a push to accept all people regardless of their behavior, morals, and ethics. This is not what the bible presents.

While we live in a pluralistic and relativism culture, we are not to embrace people at all costs. Now I have talked about both the love inside the church and outside the church. During the month of February, we will hear all about the Eros love. This kind of love is a flesh driven sensual love. While our society will celebrate all expressions of love, we must be different. Our mission is to love the way Jesus did, unconditionally.

This means that we love all people because all people need salvation. Our unconditionality does not condone unbiblical behaviors.

Back to our verses in John 13:34-35. Love the way Jesus loved us. Love each other as Jesus loved us. Then the world will see what LOVE really is, instead of what it has been degraded to mean.

I fully embrace the other kinds of love mentioned above, however as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “But now Faith, Hope Love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is Love.”

There is too much anger and hate on display today everywhere we go. Let us change what people see and let us LOVE so that people will see Agape love in action and be drawn to Jesus!

Blessings.

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Occasionally, we want to feature writers here whose works are simply longer than our format. If you’re looking to dig a little deeper, I want to encourage you to browse and then read The Christ Almighty Blog by K.W. Leslie. You won’t be disappointed.

Justifying Placing Self-Interest Above God’s Work

Today I am really seriously breaking our six-month rule, because of this excellent article by Doug Eaton at his blog Flight of Faith.  Doug is the Executive Director of Admissions for Trinity International University, which consists of four schools: Trinity College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Trinity Law School, and Trinity Graduate School. Clicking the title below will take you to where this first appeared earlier today.

Misreading Providence for Personal Gain

Matthew Henry once suggested we can sometimes neglect to obey God because we misinterpret trials and challenges as if they are permission to shirk our responsibility when, instead, God allowed these hardships to test and exercise our courage and faith. Let me give you an example.

Imagine you are a pastor the Holy Spirit has called to preach the whole counsel of God. As you are expositing a book of scripture over several months, you come to a difficult passage that goes against the cultural zeitgeist. Not only does the culture not want you to speak the truth plainly, but some church elders also start to counsel you against it.

Your church and ministry have a large online following, and to preach these truths and post them in the usual outlets could lead to big tech taking away your platforms. This conflict with big tech could arise because this teaching of scripture violates their standards of conduct.

The church’s ministry is doing wonderful things, reaching hundreds of thousands of people. You begin to rationalize that it is better to bypass this passage or gloss over it because the benefits of doing so far outweigh the costs for your ministry. Not to mention, scripture calls you to listen to the counsel of the elders. Ultimately, you use YouTube and social media’s standards of conduct to discharge yourself from your duty.

Similarly, Israel once misinterpreted opposition as a reason to neglect their duty to God. They had returned from captivity, set up an altar, and laid the foundation for the temple. God had told them to build it, but a legal prohibition was issued, which stopped the work.

Instead of continuing, the leaders misread providence and said, “God must not want us to build it right now. The time has not yet come” (Haggai 1:2). However, something selfish burned in them and helped them make this decision. They preferred to focus on building their own homes first.

God speaks to them through the prophet Haggai and says, in essence, “Why are you focusing on yourselves and your fancy houses when the House of God lies in ruins” (Haggai 1:4). The Lord pointed out to them that they were left empty because they neglected God and focused on themselves (Haggai 1:9). They were unsatisfied no matter how much they had worked to please themselves.

Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom of God, and the rest would be added (Matthew 6:33). There are no exemptions to this. Even if life has you busy with your job, family, school, or other pressures, these things never exempt us from our duty (and pleasure) to seek God first. Misreading providence for personal gain never works because the personal gain never comes.

Putting self first always leads to discontentment. Instead of seeing these providences as reasons to put ourselves first, we should view them as trials and tests God has given us to prove that the faith he has provided us has the power to overcome the world.

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Second Helping: Read another devotional post and watch a 3-minute excerpt of Doug Eaton teaching on The War Against Your Soul.

The Fruit of the Spirit Goes Beyond Doctrines, Ethics

^{CEB.Gal.6.22-23} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this.

In an information age, much emphasis is placed on holding to correct doctrine. Heresy hunters, fact checkers, and watchdog ministries are in abundance, making sure that people are held to a standard of orthodoxy. Research organizations (like Barna and Pew) have checklists of beliefs if one is to considered a Christian or an Evangelical.

Additionally, many passages of Christians (i.e. most of Galatians) are written to combat the era of “false teachers” which was already a problem for the early church. So it’s safe for us to conclude that holding to accurate beliefs is of utmost importance, especially in a world where sects, isms, cults, etc. proliferate online and in our communities.

Beyond orthodoxy however, there is also orthopraxy. If the former is defined as “right beliefs,” then the second might be defined as “right practices;” though it goes beyond spiritual practices and involves all that we do as followers of Christ.

One writer, Liv Walton, defined the two here in a June, 2021 blog post:

Orthodoxy is most simply defined as “right belief,” which consists of authorized or generally accepted theory, doctrine or practice. Orthodoxy is held with great importance in the Protestant-Christian church and other branches of Christianity such as Catholicism. While Protestant-Christians do not contend that salvation is found through doctrine nor practice, having faith is not enough to qualify “right belief.” …

Orthopraxy is defined as “right practice” yet this idea of practice is not about practicing right doctrine. Rather, when orthopraxy talks about practice, it is talking about gospel living. Instead of focusing solely on saying and doing the right things, one should focus on the holistic message of the gospel, which is to love God and love others. Additionally, orthopraxy puts emphasis on liturgy (worship) that extends beyond Sunday services.

When incorporating orthopraxy, one’s faith becomes a testament to God’s love and puts every individual on the same level. Christianity is not about who can serve the most at church or witness to the most people, but rather how one can love those around them in a way that edifies and uplifts others as fellow image-bearers…

The Bible’s “Love Chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13 has this short prologue:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

But some have argued that understanding “religion” is to incorporate a third dimension that might be termed orthopathy. (Immediately, my spell-check is concerned that this word is not in its dictionary! I find it interesting that although I’ve heard this discussed, I can’t find a single instance in an online search.)

The idea is that faith is found not only in

doctrine + ethics

but rather

doctrine + ethics + experience

In other words, by “believing right things” and “doing right things” what is the result of that in your life? How is your life different because of the beliefs you have put into practice?

So when Paul says that love is the means by which everyone will know we are Christ’s disciples, he is referring to ethics. But how do the other fruit of the spirit match up:

1. Love = expressed in action, ethics
2. Joy = an inner quality of life, therefore it is experienced
3. Peace = an inner experience as well
4. Patience = a trait which will express itself both internally, and in our dealings with others, therefore it lands in both categories
5. Kindness = expressed in action, ethics
6. Goodness = expressed in action, ethics; though sometimes we will do “the good” and it will never be seen; Jesus cautions us in all these not to practice such things in order to gain recognition
7. Faithfulness = seen in our doctrine and ethics, including our faithfulness to the pursuit of right doctrine. This one hints more directly of the spiritual disciplines.
8. Meekness = an internal culture of humility that will be expressed in our dealing with others
9. Self Control = again, an inner quality with an outward, visible expression

Some alternative scriptures for each of these, beyond the passage in Galatians where they are listed, can be found here in a May, 2014 article.

So we see in the above list that some things like joy and peace — while they have an outward visible component like self-control — are part of our inner experience.

Liv Walton concluded,

Orthodoxy and orthopraxy are not meant to stand alone. When one places all emphasis on orthodoxy, servitude becomes a false idol; and, when all the emphasis is on orthopraxy, the body of Christ and important practices such as communion can more easily be lost. However, when a balance of both is reached, believers are able to look at the world with more love.

So back to orthopathy. If you’ve been reading Christian authors, you know the important principle that our faith in Christ is anchored on the trust we have in his promises, not feelings. But we can expect an inner confirmation of his indwelling presence in our lives that is significant enough that it doesn’t fit the doctrine/ethics categories.

There is an inner confession we have, which although subject, leaves us knowing that our spirit has found what it’s looking for, we have the peace of God that exceeds human understanding.

 

 

 

 

 

Humility in an Age of Embellishment

The verse this morning on my NIV Bible app was Matthew 23:11

The greatest among you will be your servant.

What was Jesus saying here? He’s trying to tell the disciples to not seek titles or positions. Two verses back he says, “And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father.” v9, NLT and then in the following verse we read, “You are not to be called instructors either, because you have one Instructor, the Messiah.” v10 CSB.

Which brings us to our key verse. BibleHub has something called the Worsley New Testament, which renders this as, “But let him that is greatest among you be your minister: and whosoever will exalt himself shall be abased.”

Finally in verse 12, he clarifies again with a verse which ought to be familiar to you,

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

At risk of quoting the “Philippian Hymn” one time too many — it’s a favorite passage of mine — the preamble contains this in verse 3 of chapter 2 of Philippians, which I cite from one of BibleHub’s highlighted versions, the Berean Standard Bible:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.

…Just two days before, the same Bible app opened my day with James 4:6

And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (NLT)

I began to think about how these words on humility might land. Most of us would say we live ‘average’ lives. We’re not expecting anyone to write a book about our lives, either now or when we’re gone. We might never have that “15 minutes of fame” that Andy Warhol thought would be common experience.

We have no problem attaining humility; circumstances have done that for us.

And yet…

We live at a time where social media often compels people to present an online persona which is perhaps more colorful than our daily reality.

What’s really interesting about this is that at least three of the dominant social media platforms right now are image-oriented; dependent on there being media; requiring that each post have a photo or video. And as everyone knows the saying, “The camera never lies.”

But we actually live at a time when that old adage isn’t true.

Photoshop allows you to make major changes to pictures. But you don’t need Photoshop. Two weeks ago I joined a church group on a fall hike in the woods. My wife posted a picture, but I thought it would look better cropped, so I posted a cropped version of it and added some contrast. Then someone else put it through a filter so that the fall leaves — which hadn’t fully arrived at that point — were given some added red and orange to make it look like a more seasonal fall scene.

But that picture lied. The trees on the right side were green at that point; in fact, I think one of them was an evergreen anyway. It would never have fall leaves!

We live at a time when anyone can make everything from their vacations to their boring, everyday lives look more enticing and more beautiful. And I gotta admit that a vacation picture of frustrated people in an airport missing a connection isn’t all that engaging. And I would choose the picture of the kids at home hugging the dog than the picture of the dog throwing up on the couch moments later.

The reason we want social media to show what Hollywood stars called their “good side,” is because everyone else does this. It’s another way that Christians can find themselves conforming to the culture.

There’s a type of humor called “self-deprecating.” The writer or speaker is putting themselves down. It can be quite funny, and it does create a level playing field between writer/speaker and audience, though it can have its own issues.

That’s not what I’m recommending here. That can lead to something called ‘false humility.’

I think the principle we need to apply is honesty. Where this is honesty, humility will naturally follow.

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But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!   Jeremiah 9:24 NLT

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names stand written in heaven.” Luke 10:20 NET

 

 

 

 

 

Thank God for the Generosity of God!

by Clarke Dixon

Thank God for the generosity of God! Where would we be without it? Where would we be without the generosity of God as expressed in the creation of the universe, the creation of a life permitting world, the gift of life, the gift of water and weather systems to supply the water, the gift of food and eco-systems to supply the food, the gift of bodies that know what to do with water and food, the gift of family, friends, and relationships, the gift of communication, language, intellect, and so much more. We are only scratching the surface of all that we can be grateful for, and yet we are only one chapter into the Bible. Thank God for the generosity of God as expressed in creation.

Let us go further into the Bible as we consider the generosity of God:

I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:8-9 (NRSV)

In what way was Jesus rich when carpenters would hardly amass great wealth in that day? Jesus was rich, not by trade or earthly inheritance, but by identity as God. We can think of what Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8 (NRSV)

The generous act of Jesus, in becoming poor though rich, was really the expression of the generosity of God. This is not just one generous act of God among many, this reveals the generous character of God. Generosity is a character trait of God. Generosity is expressed in everything God does. Thank God for the generosity of God!

Being followers of Jesus, we want to become more like Jesus. This means developing in generosity, not just as something we do from time to time in generous acts, but as a character trait, something that is expressed in everything we do.

This brings us in our current series to our next “cultural statement” from Open Table Communities, statements that are good not only for a sister faith community like OTC, but also for an old fashioned kind of church like we are at Calvary Baptist:

A Culture of Generosity
We nurture a practice of giving and blessing others and sharing the resources we have with those who do not have. We view generosity as an act of resistance against greed and systems of exploitation. We learn to hold a generous posture with our ears for listening, our questions for understanding and our words for sharing our stories, perspectives and lived experience.

Open Table Communities

When we speak about generosity in church circles, we tend to focus on generosity in treasures, talents, and time. Why do we pastor/preacher-types normally focus on those? I think it is because these things impact the life of the congregation as an organization. When people here at Calvary, for example, give financially, get involved according to their gifts and abilities, and give of their time to the work being done at Calvary, they are helping us do collectively what we believe we are called to do, namely helping people walk with Jesus in faith, hope, and love. This kind of generosity helps the church grow and remain healthy. This is good, but generosity is not just about impact people can have on a church as an organization.

As we see in the cultural statement above, generosity modelled on Jesus is focused on the impact we can have on people and the world as we address lack and systems that create lack, namely the greed and exploitation that leads some people to poverty while leading others to wealth. It is also about impact on us as we are changed in our character when we take a posture like Jesus.

I recently finished listening to a podcast series called the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The lead pastor of the church known as Mars Hill is one year older than me and he became a pastor, in co-founding Mars Hill, one year before I became a pastor. Over the years I have gone from pastoring two very small churches, to pastoring one mall church, to pastoring one smallish church, to pastoring another smallish church. Meanwhile the pastor of Mars Hill led it to grow into a mega church with multiple locations and thousands involved. I imagine there was great leadership in getting people to be generous in giving of their treasures, talents, and time along the way, enabling this church to grow exponentially. However, as related in the podcast, there was at the core, systems of greed and exploitation. And now the church is no more. Many people were wounded along the way. Some fervent Christians walked away, not just from the church, but from Christianity. How things might have been different if Mars Hill had adopted this cultural statement on generosity, if it had developed a true culture of generosity, especially among the leadership.

When generosity is a character trait, we will be generous, not just in our treasures, talents, and time, but in anything and everything.

As expressed in the cultural statement, we will be generous in our listening. To be so means giving others the gift of time, quietness, attention, and understanding.

We will be generous in questions for understanding. We will seek to be understanding of others. We will seek to minimize misunderstandings. This means being generous in our desire to honor others and to hear clearly.

We will be generous in our words for sharing our stories, perspectives and lived experience. This requires a kind of self-confidence, that our stories, perspectives, and lived experiences are worth sharing. Generosity flows from abundance, and in this area we may convince ourselves that we are lacking, that our stories and our perspectives are not worth hearing, that our lives are not worth sharing. I think it was C.S. Lewis who said that humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.

But we can keep going, with generosity in anything and everything; generous in assuming the dignity of others, generous in giving people the benefit of the doubt, generous in offering forgiveness, generous in willingness to go deeper in relationship.

We began with thank God for the generosity of God. The generosity of God has had a huge impact on the world. We would not be here without it. We would not be anywhere. We would have no future without the generosity of God.

Thank God for the generosity of God, a character trait found expressed in creation, in Jesus, and in so much else. Are the people in our lives saying thank God for the generosity of God as expressed in us?

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Clarke Dixon is, in case you missed it, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. His sermon summaries appear here most Thursdays. Read more at his blog, Thinking Through Scripture.

The Ministry of “Coming Alongside”

When my oldest son was doing a 4-month internship with Engineering Ministries International, he reminded us several times that they were “an adjunct ministry.” Their job was to work in the background for other Christian organizations (who they called the “client charities”) and it was those other organizations which received all the visibility. Engineering Ministries International has been involved in at least two thousand projects around the world, but you’ve probably never heard of them.

Another organization, Partners International, had some missions projects operating a few years ago that fell under the banner of “Alongside.” One was a water treatment plant in Africa started by my wife’s uncle. He had noticed that many organizations were raising money to install wells so Africans could have fresh water, but nobody was fixing the wells when they needed repairing. So he created his own “Alongside” project which led to the water treatment facility.

With that in mind, today I want to pick up where we left off yesterday. This devotional study originally appeared a decade ago under the title

Cooperating With What God is Already Doing

and has never been repeated here until now…

It’s possible that your work situation or family situation or neighborhood situation looks, from a spiritual perspective, fairly bleak. You may find yourself in what you consider to be a fairly pagan or secularized environment. But I believe that God is at work in hearts more than we realize.

As an aside, I am reminded of the story of Elijah who goes into hiding, despite winning a huge victory against the prophets of Baal. He cries to God that he is “the only one left,” rattling off some stats about the remaining prophets of Baal, and at that moment, God throws out his own statistic:

^{NCV.1 Kings.19.8} I have seven thousand people left in Israel who have never bowed down before Baal and whose mouths have never kissed his idol.”

You can read our February, 2021 devotional about this narrative at this link.

Okay…let’s go back to the idea of feeling like you’re in a broken place where God doesn’t seem to be working.

I want to continue where we left off yesterday, and look at our part in bringing people into an awareness of Jesus that leads to a desire for Jesus.  In that devotional, we looked at being the kind of person that God can use to be “sent,” that is to go out into a particular situation or people group or individual’s life and then tell them, so they can hear, believe and call out for salvation.

But the Bible also teaches a principle of “sowers and reapers” and raises the possibility of this being a team approach. In I Corinthians 3:

^{(NCV) 5b} …We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do.⁶ I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow.⁷ So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God, who makes things grow, is important.⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose, and each will be rewarded for his own work.

My entire part-time work career during eight years of high school and college consisted of working in large department stores. In each area of the store I had to know what the products were, how the products worked, whether there were product warranties, and where the products were kept in the stockroom.  I also had to learn how to work the cash register.

So, my usefulness to my employer consisted of two things:

• product knowledge
• sales processing

In later years, when I owned my own business, I realized I had been taught nothing about how to sell. There was no sense in which I asked customers what they felt they needed, qualified what might meet that need, and then proceed to  “ask the question.” Asking means saying, “Do you think that this product can meet those needs?” Or, “Is there anything stopping from you buying today?” Or, “Can I wrap that up for you?”

The ingredient I was missing was what is called, “closing the sale.” My training should have been a three-pronged approach consisting of:

• product knowledge
• closing the sale
• sales processing

Sometimes in the Christian journey we encounter people who are given to us so that we can plant seeds. And other times, we find people where God has been working in their lives already and they’re just waiting for someone to gently nudge them over the line of faith.

But sometimes we fall short of doing both when the opportunities are present. To switch analogies for a moment, it’s like a baseball game in which you’re up to bat and you get a perfect pitch, but instead of hitting a home run you decide to bunt. What holds us back from the hitting the ball out of the park?

I once heard a pastor tell the story of a friend with whom he had been planting seeds for a long time. One day, out of the blue, an associate asked the man if he would like to become a disciple and make Christ the Lord of his life, and the man said yes on the spot. This pastor often jokes that this was simply “not fair.” With a department store analogy, you could say that this man was “his customer;” though thankfully we’re not exactly on commission! More seriously, the pastor understood the distinction between sowing and reaping, and rejoiced that this man did indeed cross the line of faith.

(If we keep the analogy going, the pastor gave the friend all the product knowledge, but his associate was the one closing the sale.)

In Experiencing God, Richard Blackaby talks about coming alongside areas where the Holy Spirit is already working.** Perhaps there is a ministry organization or even a secular social service agency where people, whether consciously or unknowingly, are experiencing the fruit of God’s love and are ripe to respond. Could you be the missing ingredient?

• In the lives of people you’ve been in contact with for the past few weeks or month, are you a sower or a reaper?

• Do you know people right now who you’ve been gently sharing your faith with, but you’ve been afraid to ask the question?

• Re-read today’s key verses. Maybe you find evangelism very difficult. Is there an area where you can be a “water-er” providing after-care for new disciples?

~ PW

**Experiencing God, pp. 54-55; p. 297

The Beautiful People Who Lay the Foundation for Evangelism

Could I have made that title any longer? Today and tomorrow I want to revisit some things we looked at here in 2012; two original devotional studies that have never, until now, been repeated. This devotional was originally titled

But Before That Can Happen, This Has to Happen

I know…equally long title!

^{NIV Romans 10:14} How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

From a purely literary standpoint, these verses in Romans use a rather unique form. It’s like Paul is deliberately saying everything in reverse, not unlike those comedies or dramas on television where they keep flashing back to progressively earlier and earlier scenes chronologically. In other words, before that can happen, this has to happen.

Having just proclaimed that, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” in verse 13, the sequence looks like this:

• people are saved if they call on the Lord
• can’t call on Him unless they first believe
• can’t believe unless they hear
• can’t hear unless someone delivers the message; the good news
• can’t have the message delivered unless someone is sent

So before one thing can happen something else has to happen.  Let’s put things in chronological order:

• someone is sent
• the ‘sent person’ delivers the message
• others hear the message
• they believe the message
• they call on the Lord to save them
• they are saved

That in itself would be a sufficient meditation, but it leaves something else.  In every major English translation, one more verse is included in the same paragraph, which is a quotation from Isaiah 52.

^{Isaiah 52:7} How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”

Repeated here in Romans:

As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

I love how the CEV put this:

The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news.

Now, I’m going to read something into the text here, but I want you to humor me by following along here.  I think the CEV accurately conveys the picture here of the beauty of the sight of someone coming to bring the good news. But let’s assume for just a moment the beauty of the person themselves who comes.  (Not, obviously physical beauty, but spiritual beauty.)

If everything in the text is in reverse order, and if every translator sees the quotation as very directly linked to the other phrases, then what appears in the original form,

• people are saved if they call on the Lord
• can’t call on Him unless they first believe
• can’t believe unless they hear
• can’t hear unless someone delivers the message; the good news
• can’t have the message delivered unless someone is sent
• that “sent someone” is a beautiful person!!

Then the adjusted order would be

• the process described here begins with a beautiful person!!
• someone is sent
• the ‘sent person’ delivers the message
• others hear the message
• they believe the message
• they call on the Lord to save them
• they are saved

Again, I’ve done some “reading into” on the text here, but it does give you a different way of looking at the passage, and it is supported by further study of what it is to be the man or woman who God chooses.  Those of you who object strongly can leave a comment with the more traditional interpretations of the Isaiah passage’s presence here.

But I think God is looking for a “special someone” to relay the message to people in need, and he’s looking for that someone to have a beautiful spirit.  In other words, before we can assume a ministry, we need to cultivate the character of Christ within.

Someone once said there are two dimensions to a physical cross, and we can think of the vertical dimension as the depth of our relationship to God, and the horizontal as the breadth of expressing that relationship to the world around us. We are responsible for the depth of our ministry and God is responsible for the breadth of our ministry.

To get to be the sent one, to be the preacher, to see people respond and call out for salvation; all that has to begin with the formation of Christian character within.  You can’t expect to move in the gifts of the spirit until you have cultivated the fruit of the spirit.

~Paul Wilkinson

For some of you, the passage today reminded you of an older worship song; so here’s a link to Our God Reigns.

 

 

The People We Christians Have the Hardest Time Loving

Longtime regular Thursday devotional columnist Clarke Dixon has been granted a sabbatical by his church this summer. We look forward to his return in September.

Thinking Through John 13:34-35

by Clarke Dixon

There is a group of people that throughout history Christians have had great difficulty loving. We Christians have shunned them, demonized them, jailed them, and have even put them to death. In our day common notions of decency do not keep us from being on the attack, in books and over the internet, through social media, in blogs, podcasts, and in chat forums.

What is that one group? It is the group Jesus speaks about in John 13:34,35:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

John 13:34-35 (NLT)

The group we Christians have the hardest time loving? Other Christians.

We have a long history of not treating Christians who think differently from us well. We have hated, feared, mistreated, maligned, and tried to destroy one another.

Loving one another is super-important!

Jesus gave the disciples a kind of “pep talk” at the Last Supper. Jesus had spent three years with his disciples and was now preparing them to be a Jesus following community without him, at least without him in the way they had become accustomed to. First thing out of the gate? Love each other!

Why is loving one another so important?

If we can’t love one another, then how can we expect people to take seriously our good news message of love? Jesus said love for each other would prove that the disciples really were his followers. It is interesting that though Jesus taught and modeled love for all people, including those on the fringes of society, and even including one’s enemies, it is love for one another that is evidence of being a Jesus follower.

A watching world will not be impressed by our lack of love for each other. We Christians can do all kinds of loving things in the world and for the world, but when we don’t love one another, our message that God’s love changes everything, is lost.

What does loving one another look like in our day?

There is the idea that if you love someone you will rescue them from their wrong thinking. Loving one another therefore means fixing other Christians, pointing out their errors.

There are two problems with this.

First, Christians are not cars that can simply be fixed. They are people, with history, experiences, and reasons why they think the way they do.

Second, the Bible is not like the Haynes repair manual I have for my motorcycle, with step-by-step instructions and photographs to make everything as clear as possible. The Bible is brilliant, but convoluted. The Bible is sometimes hard to understand, and it is sometimes easy to misunderstand.

There is a better path forward than trying to fix one another.

Loving one another means having conversations with one another.

Conversation means talking with and to one another rafter than talking about one another. In our day there is so much talking about one another in books, on social media, podcasts, blogs, and perhaps worst of all, online comments.

Conversation means listening as well as speaking. Listening is an important part of love. We each have our blind spots that others may be able to speak to. We each believe things and hold to things that may cause harm if we are not aware. Blind spots are nasty that way.

Conversation means seeking truth together. Author Soong-Chan Rah has written an article about the difference between truth possessed and truth pursued. Truth possessed can be summed up as “I know the truth and everyone should listen to me.” Truth pursued can be summed up as “there is such a thing as truth and let’s work together on finding it.”

Loving one another means learning the skill of disagreeing with one another without dismissing or demonizing one another.

It means learning to disagree with others while honouring them for doing their best to honor God. Those who think differently than we do may never have been exposed to reasons to think otherwise. They might be doing the best they can. Maybe the blind spot is ours and we are the ones who need to rethink things. Humble people are listeners.

Loving one another means taking a posture of gentleness toward one another.

Gentleness might be the most neglected fruit of the Spirit in our day.

If everyone around the world learned gentleness, wars would cease, and wars would cease to begin. Imagine too, if people would be gentle with themselves. Therapists may find they have more free time.

We can not, of course, make that happen, but we can model gentleness in our own lives, in the life of our our own church family, and in our own family of churches.

You may think differently about many issues and theological ideas than I do. I will be gentle with you. Will you be gentle with me?

But isn’t diversity of thinking among Christians a problem? Don’t we need to get everyone on the same page?

I have heard it said that we have a diversity problem in our day in the convention of churches within which I serve. It has been said that our tent is too big as a Baptist Convention.

I don’t think we have a diversity problem. We have a diversity opportunity.

We have the opportunity to demonstrate to a polarized world, how to live in a polarized world. It is through loving one another. It is through conversation, speaking and listening, talking with and to rather than about, disagreeing without dismissing or demonizing, and through being gentle.

When we allow our differences to become reasons for erecting walls and starting wars we are reflecting the world’s ways, not the way of Jesus.

We Christians have had a hard time loving one another. Jesus said we must do it. So let’s do it.